Where does Sen. Lugar live?

Indiana Senator Richard Lugar lives in Virginia. It’s not a legal problem according to the Indiana Attorney General. It may be a political problem, however, if Democrats and Tea Party supporters get their way. They are all trying to make the case that Dick Lugar is disconnected from Indiana.

A new web video from a Democratic political action committee, American Bridge, points out that Dick Lugar is registered to vote at an Indianapolis home he sold 35 years ago. He lives in McLean, Virginia and while the video suggests something sinister, the Senator is following an accepted practice. “It’s just like the United States military,” says Lugar campaign spokesman David Willkie. “If you’re a military personnel and in defense of this country, in service to this country and you’re overseas you keep your last place of residence.”

But a recent admission by Lugar that he stays in hotels when he comes back to Indiana has prompted Indiana Democrats to challenge him to disclose where he stays at taxpayer expense, and how much he pays. “He owes it to the people of Indiana to disclose what he spent the money on,” says state Democratic Chairman Dan Parker.

It’s all an effort to boost the chances of Lugar primary opponent Richard Mourdock by reinforcing the fact that Lugar is seeking a seventh term. The accusation is tough to refute. “He’s not disconnected from Indiana,” says Willkie. “He stays in Indiana, he’s meeting with Hoosiers constantly. He’s working with his family farm, he goes to church here in Indiana.”

Lugar generally stays at the downtown Marriott when he’s here in Indianapolis. Democrats say he should maintain a second residence here. The Lugar campaign says he can’t afford it. But then, this isn’t really about where he lives, it’s about the charge that he has lost touch with his constituents.

8 Responses to “Where does Sen. Lugar live?”

“Accepted practice?” I don’t know any federal legislator who doesn’t understand he needs to maintain a in their district/state. Everyone knows you have to do that.

State law says you don’t lose your residency to vote because of your service in D.C. The purpose of that law is obvious – that people aren’t found to be non-residents because they’re in D.C. serving the state. But that’s not what happened with Lugar. Lugar lost his residency, not because of the service, but because he sold his home and didn’t establish any other residency in the district. There is no exception in the law that allows you to vote, signing documents under threat of perjury that you live at someone else’s home. Yet he and his wife do that every election.

That doesn’t even get into the federal constitutional requirement that a person be a resident of the state in order to run for office. State law cannot expand or make an exception to a federal constitutional requirement. Of course that’s a matter for the Senate as that body has the exclusive power to determine the qualifications of its own members. Even if Lugar gets elected, the Senate can refuse to seat him because he doesn’t have a residency in Indiana as required by the U.S. Constitution. Lugar’s identifying 3200 Highwoods Court as his “residence” in his primary filing, a residence he admits he hasn’t lived at in 35 years, opens him up to not being seated by the Senate, especially if the Democrats control that body.

As far as not being able to afford a residence in Indiana, Lugar coudld have identified a family member’s house, a friend’s house, a shack on the farm, etc., say he stays there when he comes back to Indiana, and he’d be in the free and clear. Nobody could prove otherwise. But instead Lugar identifies his residence someone else’s house where he hasn’t lived for 35 years. I don’t know why Lugar’s attorneys haven’t told him to stop doing this. Smart attorneys would.

The use of a “phony” address for voting, vehicle registration, driver’s license, and filing of State and Federal income taxes are serious issues. I provided the documents to the Daily Caller and others that ultimately brought this issue to the attention of the Indiana media. I also provided the documentation to the Indiana Election Division, Bureau of Motor Vehicles, etc.

If Senator Lugar will lie so easily on forms about his address, what else will he easily lie about?

By the way, I make less money than Lugar and I could afford to keep a $500 a month apartment on the side ($6,000 a year) if that was what was required to qualify for my job. Don’t believe it when he says he can’t afford it.

I do not see how taxpayers of Indiana someone who lies and cheats to get their job. It shows a clear lack of personal honor and respect for Indiana citizens.

Please explain to me why this is “ok” and not a problem to list an address of a home that has been sold on your voter registration according to the Attorney General and at the same time convict Charlie White for felony voter fraud for doing exactly the same thing. This is a shameful distortion of our justice system.

As a citizen of the state of Indiana, I don’t know if I should be shocked or just down right mad. 35 years of fraud on the voters. He shouldn’t be allowed to run for any office with this kind of record.